Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Okinawa Prefectural Office, Cave in Todoroki

　　Look at the following pictures. These pictures show a limestone cave, which was the Okinawa Prefecture Office that had been functioning at the last minute during the war.
　　The crucial task of the office was to evacuate citizens to the north and better still to other islands. The Governor and his officials stayed in the cave and managed to take as many citizens as possible from the island, taking the risk of their own lives. Their action was admirable.
　　The Governor ordered his men to abandon the office and be sure to survive the war on June 9th in 1945, and then, he went missing. It is said that he had killed himself. His body has been missing so far.

(Vocabulary)
limestone 石灰岩
limestone cave / calcareous cave　鍾乳洞
better still (それならば) いっそのこと
Check our website or, better still, come for a visit!  ウェブサイトをチェック，またはいっそのことご来店を！

Shiraume Student Nursing Unit

　　I'm going to write about the nursing assistants of military medics in this entry. The Japanese Government had quickly and newly produced nursing staff along with military medics during the war. They were recruited mainly from female teenagers. I visited one of the monuments for these nursing staff.
　　According to the information board, after the invasion of the Allied forces, they accompanied wounded soldiers and non-armed citizens, evacuating to the north of the island, where the enemy was sparse. However, the groups with wounded or exhausted people were slow. Almost all of them were killed or missing. The monument which I'll show you below was built by their juniors, relatives, and their school officials. Their places of death aren't even now identified.

The 22nd Infantry Regiment and Bombproof Caves

　　The 22nd Infantry Regiment was founded in 1884 and had been dispatched to the key conflicts in the history of modern Japan. I feel something special in this regiment, because it was made up from people from Ehime Prefecture, my home.
　　At the place where all the regiment were completely killed stands the monument which I was most wanted to visit. It was only 50 meters from the site where L.Gen. Buckner was shot and killed. Judging from several historical facts, the shooter might have been a member of the 22nd regiment, i.e., from my home. Honestly, I feel "That serves you right", but he was also dispatched to such a far place from his homeland probably against his will. He would also be a victim of the war. At the foot of the monument fresh tomatoes were offered and I was thankful for people around the monument.
　　Take a look at a picture of a bombproof cave at first, though I'm going to upload several pictures of other caves in the following entries. It was open to visitors who wanted to pray for the departed. The stairs were built after the war for such visitors. People were staying in the dark, narrow cave without enough food, water, and sewer. I couldn't imagine such a life. The inhabitants of the cave were mostly from Yamagata prefecture, and so the monument for people from Yamagata stands on the soil above the cave.

(Vocabulary)
陸軍歩兵２２連隊：　主に愛媛県出身者で構成された連隊。日清戦争から大東亜戦争まで重要な戦闘に派遣された由緒ある連隊で、昭和２０年６月１７日この地にて全員玉砕。
真栄里（まえざと）：　沖縄県糸満市内の集落の名。２２連隊玉砕の地。
infantry　歩兵
regiment　連隊
That serves you right　ざまあみろ！

Itoman City

　　Itoman City is located in the south of Okinawa Island. It is well-known as the place of fierce fighting between the Allied forces and Japan during the Greater East Asian War. There are no high mountains and no lakes in the city and its undulating ground is very unique. The most typical characteristic of the city is that there are numerous monuments set up across the city.
　　Generally speaking, it's the lowest class of soldiers who have the highest possibility of being killed in combat. Then, could you tell me who was the highest class of soldier in the U.S. ever killed in military combat? He is Lieutenant General Buckner so far, who was killed at the top of a hill in Itoman City. I visited his place of death too. The first picture shows the place where he was shot and killed. I'll also upload the picture of the roadsign for the memorial point. His former monument was built by Itomanees, but now it has been transferred into the U.S. camp.
　　If it were not for the combats here, lots of lives would have been saved. Irrespective of the nationalities, the departed due to the war are here in Itoman City even now commemorated.
　　Okinawa Island is formed on coral reefs and so it has lots of natural caves underground, which were used as bomb shelters during the war. I visited some of those shelters. I'll write about them in the next article.

(Vocabulary)
Lieutenant General 中将
undulating　《[名]の前でのみ》(フォーマル)  波打つ, (波のように) うねっている

Buoyant Economy

　　We got to Naha Airport. After picking our baggage up at the baggage claim, we headed for the car rental company. The first picture shows people standing in a line to wait for a free shuttle bus of their agents. There were several car rental agents and all the lines were long and crowded. It meant the high popularity of Okinawa. The next picture was shot at the office of my car rental, Toyota Car Rental. So many people were waiting. In the last fall, I heard that the capacity of the plates for rental cars overshot its assignment. I understood the popularity of the Okinawa tour.

(Vocabulary)
buoyant economy　好景気
overshoot
[他] 〈停止位置・目的地など〉 を行き［通り］過ぎる, オーバーランする；[自] 行き［通り］すぎる, オーバーランする
[他] 〈目標・限度など〉 を超過する, 超える；[自] 超過する

On The Way To Okinawa 3

Satamisaki Cape:
The picture shows Satamisaki Cape, the southern end of Kyushu. I was looking forward to seeing islands lying between Kyushu and Okinawa, but emerging clouds spoiled my pleasure. My new car is now being transported from Bremen in Germany. I wondered if I could drive it to the cape when I got it.

Takeshima Island:
This island is different from the same name island in the Sea of Japan, which is hotly disputed between Japan and South Korea, and was the last island I could detect from the sky. Just after passing over the island, dense cloud had covered over the sea.

 

The Northern End of Okinawa:
The clouds got sparse and when I looked down, I saw the northern end of Okinawa through the break in the clouds. I looked the map up and knew the name of the area, Oku.

(Vocabulary)
ruin someone's fun / spoil someone's pleasure ［sport］ （人）の楽しみに水を差す
a break in the clouds  雲の切れ目

On The Way To Okinawa 2

The Bay of Mitsukue:
I'll write about a Japanese historical fact which is not well-known even to Japanese people. You see the Bay of Mitsukue in the picture. Several months before the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy, a training camp started at this bay. 10 young men were chosen and trained here on how to handle the special purpose submarine to invade Pearl Harbor from the sea. This bay is near the military port, Kure, and away from view at the same time. 9 of 10 were killed in the attack, and now a memorial service is conducted every December 8th, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbour.

Ibusuki City:
My plane flew over Ibusuki City in southern Kyushu, which is famous for its characteristic hot spa and one of the popular destinations of hot spa enthusiasts. One more hour's flight will take me to Okinawa. Here occurred an idea about Kamikaze, special attack corps in the Greater East Asian War. The display in front of me showed that my aircraft's velocity was 800km/h, which was twice as fast as the Zero fighter. That is, the Zero fighters took 2 hours from Kyushu to the battlefield around Okinawa. They soared near here with one-way fuel and an enormous bomb to kill enemies along with themselves. What did they think for TWO hours viewing the scenery which they would never see again.

　

(Vocabulary)
special purpose submarine 特殊潜航艇
away from view 目に付かない

On The Way To Okinawa 1

I'll upload pictures through the window of my plane on the way to Okinawa:

Old Matsuyama Home:
Shooting with digital cameras during take-off and landing had been prohibited up until quite recently, but now it is permitted. The hazy view by yellow sand was regrettable.

My Working Village:
Just after taking-off, the plane headed southward. The plane went down to the south along with my commuting route. The picture shows a small village in which my office is located.

Hiburijima Island:
My parents were primary school teachers in their younger days. They worked in a small school on the remote island of Hiburijima, when I was 9 to 11 years old. Newspapers were delivered on the next day. Blackouts often occurred. When the sea was stormy, the supply of daily necessities was stopped. No amusement park, no movie theater, no game center, no, no, no, ,,,but there was plenty of natural playgrounds for kids. All the ground, all the seashore, and all the mountains were my fun places. However, everything was inconvenient there. Especially, there was no clinic. It was when I was on the island that I decided to become a doctor. I saw the island in the distance.

Ikata Nuclear Power Plant:
I was born near the plant, though the plant was built decades after my birth. This plant is now suspended due to the 3.11 Tsunami disaster in eastern Japan, but the reactor will be open after further intensifying of its security.

(Vocabulary)
Old Matsuyama Home  ふるさと
up until quite recently　つい最近まで

Nipponmaru Cruise Ship

　　My office is located in the small fishing-and-farming village of Nagahama, which is serene and safe from crime. In this town a sensational topic has been in the air these days. That is, Japan's cruise ship, Nipponmaru, is to call at Nagahama port on Mar. 5th., carrying 400 passengers. I've not seen the ship, and I came to the office rather earlier than usual and went to the port.
　　When I arrived at the port, passengers were moving into buses to go sightseeing around here. I tried to shoot the whole of the ship, but I was too close to the ship. One of my colleagues climbed up the hill and took nice pictures. I got some pictures from him and I'll post them.
　　Getting back to my office, I promptly did a search about the Nipponmaru cruise ship on the net. I've not experienced any cruise ship tour. Consequently, in the next moment, I found myself to have applied for a four-day tour to Sakhalin in autumn.
　　My booked room is the lowest-priced one and I was put on a waiting list at the third place for cancellation. If I could get the room, I'll put up pictures of Japan's northern island of Rishiri and Rebun, and the autumnal scenery of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
　　By the way, the upper-classes weren't fully booked, but they were too expensive for me, and I decided to wait for cancellation of the lowest class.

(Vocabulary)
in the air　（話・うわさなどが）話題になって
call at　（船が）～に寄港する
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ユジノサハリンスク

Planting of Cherry Trees

　　Yoshino cherry (Someiyoshino in Japanese) was produced in Edo, now called Tokyo, in Edo era, in the middle of 19th century. The gardeners in Somei village in Edo generated it from the wild cherry in Mt. Yoshino in Nara prefecture. "Someiyoshino" was named by the connection of "Somei" and "Yoshino". That is to say, yoshino cherry is not wild and has not self-proliferating ability and human help is required to reproduce itself.
　　Dogo park is one of the tourist attractions in my hometown. Yoshino cherries in the park are well-known for its beauty. Those cherries were planted just after the Greater East Asian War to solace people, but now 70 years after the war, those cherries started to perish.
　　Today, my Lions Club planted newly four cherry trees in the park with several junior high school students. I don't know when they will bloom, but I hope they will entertain our descendants next several decades. At the same time, this planting will become good memory for the students.

(Vocabulary)
Yoshino cherry ソメイヨシノ
solace /sa:lɪs   [U] (悲しみ・失望の際の) 慰め；慰める
find/seek solace in sth ＜…＞に慰めを見いだす［求める］

Maintenance of My Bicycle

　　Spring is just around the corner in my hometown. I took my bicycle out and did some maintenance work, lubricating gears with oil, examining tires for any damage, checking the battery of the light and cycle computer,,,. Everything was ok and I'm just waiting for spring.

(Vocabulary)
lubricate
1 …に油を差す, (潤滑油などで) …を滑らかにする
2 〈仕事・取引など〉 を円滑に進むようにする

Tsubaki Shrine

　　Could religion exist without any religious scripture? Could religion come to the world without any guru or founder of the sect? Buddhism has the Buddha. Likewise Christianity has Jesus Christ and the Muslim faith has Muhammad. However, Shinto, Japan's original what you call religion doesn't have any guru or any scripture. So I often wonder if Shinto could be called a "religion".
　　Anyway, there are lots of Shinto shrines in my hometown. Probably more than 50, including small ones, though I don't know the exact number. One of the best known in my hometown is Tsubaki shrine. Today the weather was clear and I took my parents to this shrine, for they wanted to get some charms for their two granddaughters, who would take exams for each university.
　　Around the approach to the main hall, several people were preparing for the soon-coming shrine festival. It has been said that spring will come after the Tsubaki shrine festival. I thought that spring is just around the corner in my hometown.

(Vocabulary)
religious scripture 経典
guru, founder of a sect 教祖

Ehime Marathon

　　The Ehime Marathon, one of the three most popular marathon events in Japan, was held in my hometown on Feb. 8th. I applied for it a few month ago, but couldn't gain a spot. The competition rate was more than two. So I cheered runners from the sidewalk this time. At the same time, I took part in the activity of Matsuyama Chuo Lions Club, which I belong to. They offered lots of refrigerant sprays to assist heavily exhausted runners at about the 35km point. The second picture shows our lunch and sprays for icing runners.

(Vocabulary)
gain a spot / have a ticket to 出場権を得る
a refrigerant spray  冷却スプレー

Jogging After Two Months' Interval

　　I went jogging today after a few months' interval. I applied for the Ehime Marathon last autumn, which is one of the best three popular marathon events in Japan and was held on Feb. 8th, but I was rejected. The competition rate was apparently more than 2. I lost motivation and didn't jog for some time, but I have a plan to take part in the 10km road race in the Tougenkyo Marathon on Apr. 5th, so I started jogging today. Furthermore, I have another marathon plan, the Osaka Marathon, this year. I'm not sure I can get a place in the marathon, because it is so popular as you see, but I have to prepare.
　　Today's jogging route was around the park near my house. The sky was clear and I could see a long distance.

Volunteer Work

　　I started to write this blog in November 2005, so 9 years have passed since then. As I've hardly any opportunity to write English in my everyday life, I've kept it to, dare I say, improve my English skill. Writing in English is way more difficult than reading for me.
　　The merit of using English is to be read by numerous people around the world. Some of them have replied to my blog or directly sent me e-mails. It was great fun to receive messages from people outside of Japan. After all, they made me choose a wide variety of topics. The theme concerning my Lions Club is a topic that acts as a magnet for reactions by members of other overseas Lions Clubs.
　　The pictures show today's volunteer work of the Matsuyama Chuo Lions Club, which entailed cleaning the grounds of Jodoji Temple, one of the 88 temples in the course of Shikoku Pilgrimage. The cold winter is off-season for the pilgrimage, but some groups of pilgrims visited the temple just after we had finished cleaning.


(Vocabulary)
I feel the Japanese have a sophisticated, dare I say more civilized, manner of communicating than where I'm from. 日本人は、洗練された、あえて言うと私の故郷よりももっと上品な意思疎通の手段を持っていると感じているの。
dare I say it … あえて言わせてもらうと
entail  (必然的に) …を含む, 伴う, 付随させる
What would the work entail? その工事にはどんなことが付随するか．
entail doing sth  The journey will entail changing train twice. その旅では列車の乗り換えが2回ある．

Hijikawa-Arashi, Local Natural Phenomenon

　　The town in which my office is located lies at the outlet of Hijikawa River, which runs out of the deep forest through the Oozu basin, then along the basin-shaped valley to the Seto Inland Sea. It is unquestionably amongst the big rivers in Japan.
　　In the early morning on freezing winter days Oozu basin is blanketed with dense fog. The fog is produced in the basin and flows inside the valley and over the surface of Hijikawa River to the sea. The road by the river and folk houses is covered with the fog. This phenomenon is called Hijikawa-Arashi, which literally means the storm of Hijikawa River.
　　The Hijikawa-Arashi observation deck stands on top of the hill behind my office and I climbed up today before business hours. The condition was far from that which generates Hijikawa-Arashi, but I wanted to see the deck in advance before the season of the Hijikawa-Arashi.
　　The first picture is the mouth of the river. You can see the Seto Inland Sea over there. The red bridge is a drawbridge and is also the icon of the historic town. The second one was shot moving my camera to the left, the direction of Oozu basin. You will figure out the shape of the valley. The last one shows the fishery and industrial port which is under construction at the moment.

(Vocabulary)
basin 盆地

Short Trip to Shimonoseki and Iwakuni

　　I made a short trip to Shimonoseki City last weekend, which is located at the west end of Honshu, the biggest island of Japan. It is the home of the Meiji Restoration, which took place in 19th century, so it has lots of historic items. The Peace Conference of the Japanese-Sino War, which was fought in 1984-85, was held in this city and the narrow path on which Li Hung Chang, the plenipotentiary of China, walked every morning and evening during the session between his hotel and the meeting place is named after him.
　　I took part in the Shimonoseki Kaikyo Marathon with my friends and I was impressed that you could see the other runners' whereabouts on your smartphone or PC. The first finisher among us examined where the other members were after his finish in the first picture. He was able to take pictures of his friends at the best position, because he was able to know when they would reach the finish line.
　　We dropped in at Kintaikyo bridge in Iwakuni City on the way back. This bridge is the best known tourist spot in the city. This city is also known as the city of the Marine Corps. All the hotels and roads will be packed on May 5th due to the Air Show in the Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station. I hope to visit the base next year.

(Vocabulary)
plenary 《[名]の前でのみ》全員出席［参加］の; 完全な, 絶対的な
a plenary session/meeting  総会
plenary powers  全権
plenipotentiary (フォーマル) 全権大使［公使］

2014 Chiba Aqua-Line Marathon

　　The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, also known as the Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway, is a bridge - tunnel combination across Tokyo Bay in Japan. It connects the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture with the city of Kisaradu in Chiba Prefecture. With an overall length of 14 km, it includes a 4.4 km bridge and 9.6 km tunnel underneath the bay - the fourth-longest underwater tunnel in the world.
　　Around the City of Kisaradu including the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, the 2014 Chiba Aqua-Line Marathon was held and I took part in it. The bridge section of the Aqua-Line was used as a part of the marathon route. Needless to say, the bridge was built for passenger and cargo traffic, and people are not allowed to walk on it. Only on the marathon day, the bridge is open to runners. That is, it's the single chance to take such a picture that I'll show you below. For your information, the guy who took this picture was a strange runner. When I saw him ask one of the organizing staff members to shoot his picture and be rejected, I suggested to him that we take pictures in rotation. The point of the picture was about 10km, and I ran with two friends to this point to take pictures of each other, but thanks to him, all three were able to enter in one picture. As for the result, don't ask me!

An Acquaintance From Germany

　　When I traveled to Freiburg in Germany and Italy with my second daughter last year as one of the members of the friendship tour organized by Matsuyama City, I met a young guy who worked in the DB, the German railway company, at the reception party held by the Freiburg-Matsuyama Association. He was going to visit Matsuyama in a year at that time and actually came to my hometown on 0ctober 2nd. It appeared that he had begun learning Japanese with a Japanese just after the party.
　　His travel plan was to stay in Matsuyama City all the time for two weeks and make day trips around there. I offered some sightseeing plans to him, like a karst landscape, Spa resorts, a huge active volcano and small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. He chose the islands without a second thought so I took him on a day trip to go around the inland sea utilizing a ferry service and more than ten bridges. On the last night of his stay in Matsuyama I took him to a small restaurant which serves traditional cuisine of Japan, specifically in Kyoto, but it might have been a wrong choice. He was twenty some years old and must prefer meat to vegetables. Kyoto-style traditional cuisine hardly uses meat except fish. Anyway, he looked to have enjoyed his stay. Nothing beat it.

Imabari City Marathon

　　I took part in the Imabari City 10km Run again. I wanted to run faster than last year when I recorded 67 minutes. I was able to finish in 65 minutes this time, but to tell the truth, I was going to finish within 60 minutes. I'm sorry not to have been able to fulfill myself. I'll try again.

(Vocabulary)
fulfill yourself (仕事などで) 持てる力を出し切る